6 February, 2008   House of Commons Wednesday 6 February 2008 ………………   Prime Minister The Prime Minister was asked— ……………..   Q5. [184588] Mr. Jim Hood (Lanark and Hamilton, East) (Lab): My right hon. Friend is aware that this Government have done good work in dealing with institutionalised poverty through welfare reform, the minimum wage, working tax credits and minimum income guarantees. Does he agree that there is still much to do, particularly to protect people in the workplace from rogue employers who criminally exploit agency workers by paying them less than the minimum wage and by hiring and firing in breach of the law?     The Prime Minister: That is why we are looking to see how we can progress the agency workers directive and why we created a vulnerable workers forum to examine the problems faced by people in some of the lowest paid jobs in the country. I must also remind my hon. Friend that the biggest single measure that we have taken to protect vulnerable workers—the creation of a minimum wage—was opposed by the Conservative party.

16 January, 2008   House of Commons Wednesday 16 January 2008 …………….   Prime Minister The Prime Minister was asked ……………….   Q2. [179208] Mr. Jim Hood (Lanark and Hamilton, East) (Lab): Does the Prime Minister agree that the security of supply of electricity generation is a priority for any country’s well-being and true independence? Can the Prime Minister assure me that the Energy Bill, which gets its Second Reading next Tuesday, will protect the Scottish economy from any political gerrymandering of the planning laws envisaged by the Scottish National party Administration in Edinburgh?   The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend takes a great interest in energy matters. The availability of secure energy is one of the big issues affecting this country, and it is what led to the energy White Paper last week, to our decision on nuclear power, and to our decisions to extend renewable sources of energy, to make ourselves less dependent on foreign sources of energy and to cut the carbon that is used in energy. I hope that every part of the United Kingdom will feel able to support all those decisions.